Sixty-second anniversary of Greenock Church, St. Andrews, N.B. [microform] : a sermon, preached August 1st, 1886

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SIXTY-SECOND ANNIVERSARY

or

GREENOCK CHURCH,

ST. ANDREWS, N. B.

jk. sERiN^onsr

PREACHED AUGUST 1st, 18S6, BY THE PASTOR,

REY. ARCHIBALD GU:N"1I^.

HALIFAX :

Nova Sootia, Printing Company.
1886.

'JFI^EP^Ji^CE-

This Sermon is now printed in pamphlet form at the urgent and
repeated request of the congregation. We trust that it may help to keep in
mind the events and lessons of the past. The church is a grand old edifice
of pure Grecian architecture, and finished inside principally with bird-eye
maple and solid mahogany. The pulpit is a "work of art," built of solid
mahogany, and relieved here and there with a few panels of bird-eye maple.
It cost over five hundred pounds (£500) stg. This alone may serve to give
strangers an idea of its magnificence.

The Bay Pilot of Aug. 5th reports as follows:— "A very interesting
service was held in Greenock Church last Sunday morning. The Rev.
A. Gunn, Pastor, preached the sixty-second Anniversary Sermon." Having
given the text and a good synopsis of the Sermon, it proceeds to say : " The
large congregation paid strict attention throughout the whole service, and
seemed sorry when it was brought to an end. The choir rendered beauti-
fully the one hundredth Psalm — the one used in opening the churcrii 62
years ago, also Hymn 244, which begins, * Sweet is the solemn voice that
calls the Christian to the house of prayer.' They also sang the second
Paraphrase. During the taking up of the collection the choir rendered in a
very artistic manner a Hebrew chant. Psalm one hundred and eleven was
translated into English by the Pastor in such a w^ay that it might be sung
KRth good effect to this Hebrew chant which Dr. Bonar heard sung in
Jerusalem by seventy Jewish male voices. The floral committee attended to
their <luty, and had the pulpit appropriately decorated with flowers. In the
lobby on one side hung the original plan of the Kirk lot and cemetery,
showing names, dates, &c., of a very interesting nature. To this plan has
been affixed the corporation seal, the whole nicely preserved by glass and a
mahogany frame. On the other side of the lobby, in another large frame,
were to be seen the pictures of the seven ministers (Mr. Ross' excepted),
also an old and new one of the church, and one of the pulpit, all £|«-tistically
arranged by the hand of Mr. PoUeys, who also manipulated the one on
the opposite side. "

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ANNIVERSARY SERMON.

J.H fhl ;; "", ': '*'''^' '•«'"«'"^«'- <'" "^c «ay which the Lord thy God hath

Jed thee the.e forty years ir, the vvil,lc.rn,.ss that He .niKht hu.nl.Ie thee, to prove the to
know what was .„ thine heart, whether then woul.lst keep Hi. conunandments or ,>o ' '

Favours received should never be forgotten. A l)a(l memory
leads to ingratitu.lH, and an ungrateful spirit tends to less«,n the
power of recalling past events. If we believe that «'all thitu's work
together for good to them that love Go.!,"' then we must believe that
the events of the past are fur our good,-that they are favours
received at the hand of God. " The Lord hath led us in a way
that we kn«Av not :" but now that we know that way up to the
present, we ought to remeniber,-we ought to keep it ever vividly
before us, with all the lessons which it teaches, with all the duties
which It enjoins, and with all the encouragements which it bestows
so that right thought, an.l feelings may be engendered within us'
and that right words and actions may continue to flow therefrom
during the remainder of our lives here below.

Moses knew the danger of forgetting the past. He enjoined
Israel, again and again, to remember God's works, and his wonders
performed on their behalf. He enjoined them to bring these thin^r.
before their children, and to impress them upon them. "And tliele
words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart •
and thou Shalt teach them diligently unto thv children, and shalt
talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou
walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou
nsest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand
and they shalt be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt
write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."
" Beware lest thou forget the Lord, whicli brought thee forth out of
the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." " When thy son
asketh thee in time to come, saying what mean the testimonies,

6

and the statutes, and the judyiiionta, which the Lord our God com-
manded you ? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, Wo were
]'haraoh'a hundmen in Kgypt ; and the Lord hrought us out of
Egypt with a mighty hand," itc. Deut. vi., 20-2'l-. "And thou
shalt remeniher all the way which the Lord thy God hatli led thee
these forty years in the wilderness." Ho wuuld have thcni remoni-
bf.r the great straits into which sometimes they were brought })y
their perverseness and willfulness, — their want of food, drink,
raiment, guidance, defence, comfort, correction and forgiveness ; he
would have them remember the provisions that were made to meet
these emergencies, — manna from heaven, water out of the flinty
rock, raiment waxing not old for forty years, and such like blessings ;
he would have thera remember their training and discipline, — "As a
man chastenath his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee." In
Older that tiieir memories might be aided in calling up the events of
the past, Moses required them to observe certain great national
feasts, each attended with varied and characteristic ceremonies. The
feast of the Tabernacles, in which the people were required to dwell
for eight days in booths or tents made of the branches of trees,
would remind them of their sojourn in the wilderness — of their
wants, of the provision for the supply of these wants, and of the
d^'scipline to which they had been subjected. But Moses did more
than this to secure the recollection of past events by coming
generations. He wrote these events in a book. This book has come
down to us through the ages, — through the generations unimpaired
and unimpeachable. It is the oldest book in the world. By the
written word he thus guarded against the loss of the knowledge of
the past through the neglect of one generation teaching that
knowledge to another. For if one generation neglected its duty in
this respect, then without the written word, the past would be a
blank to all succeeding generations. The Lord did much for the
children of Israel, and they ought to keep it in mind. They ought
to remember all the way which the Lord their God led them.
Indeed we find tliiem singing the wonderful events of this way in
song. Read the three historical Psalms — 78th, 105th, 106th.

My dear christian friends, the Lord has done much for us as a
congregation. We ought to keep this in mind. We ©ught to
remember all the way which the Lord our God hath led us. In

order " to stir up your pure minds by way of remeniLrance," T
determined to preach this anniversary sermon reviewing the past,
which so far as I know, is the first of the kind ever preaclied in
this church. May this review lead us to extol the faithfulness of
God, deepen our gratitude, inspire us with a loftier courage, and
enable us to go forward with a greater zeal and greater faith to
encounter the untried future. God has been with us in the past,
he will be with us in the future.

Sixty-two years ago to-day this church was opened for public
worship by the Rev. Alexander McLean, your first minister. Per-
haps there are only two who saw the opening of this church present
this morning. Mr. McLean came out direct from tlie old country in
the good ship Flora, and landed in Sc. Andrews on the Monday or
Tuesday of ti. previous week, Capt. McCollnugh wl>o conim.anded
this ship was afterwards drowned at the long bar at the eastern end
of the town, and was among the first buried in the Kirk-yard. The
news of Mr McLean's arrival spread far and near. The congre-
gation determined to give their young minister a hearty reception.
Aocordingly on the first Sunday of August — the first day of August
— 1824, this church in all its beauty, as it came from the hands of
the artists, was filled to overflowing by the congregation and
inhabitants of St. Andrews, and by warm friends from Eastport,
Robbinston and from the parishes of St. Patricks, St. James and
St. George. There was much enthusiasm and the work was well
begun. For a period of about 20 years, from 1824 to 18f^, Dr.
McLean laboured successfully as minister of this congregation. But
before entering upon a detailed account of the events which
transpired during his ministry in this place, let us briefly notice the
previous history of our cause in St. Andrews. In this we experi-
ence considerable difficulty. We have little or no aid from the
records. Who was the first Presbyterian minister that preached
here ? Wc cannot tell. The Rev. John Cassel, who taught in the
Academy or King's College, Windsor, N. S., from 1811 to 1818,
and during the last of these years was the first settled pastor of the
Presbyterian Church there, came to St. Andrews In 1818 or 1819,
and took charge qf the High School which had just been organized
here. It is probable, and indeed it is asserted, that he preached
^ecasienally in Ordway's Hall (now Pauls Hall) and in Masonic

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Hall, which stood on the corner adjoining the lot on which Mr.
Coates' house is now being erected, and also in this church before it
was finished, while it stood for some time merely boarded in and
the roof partially shingled. It appears to me that Mr. Cassel's
preaching had much to do in awaking in the hearts of our people a
desire to worship their God as their fathers did, — to have a Kirk,
and a minister of their own. Mr. Robert Pagan was the first to
move in the building of a Kirk for St. Andrews. His own mag-
nificent gift of £100 (one hundred pounds) stimulated others. A
contract was immediately given to Donald D. Morrison, who had
Biyon Stephenson as his framer and foreman. The foundations
were laid, an( he frame of a goodly proportioned church (as we
this day can testify) was erected, boarded in, and the roof partially
shingled. In this condition it stood for some time, weather-beaten
and worn, for the funds gave out. Mr. Cassel preached in it
occasionally. In November, 1822, Capt. Christopher Scott came to
the rescue and undertook to complete the church at his own expense.
The work was energetically pushed forward. On Saturday in
September, 1823, the plastering was finished, and on Sunday, Dr.
Burns, of St. John, preached to a large congregation. The very
excellent manner in which Mr. Scott accomplished the work is
evident to you all. Where do you find a better proportioned church
(creditable also to the first Architect)? Where do you find 3uch a
well finished church ? Where do you find a better proportioned,
richer, or more magnificent pulpit ? I do not think you will find
its equal on the continent of America to-day. I have seen the
pulpits of some of the richest churches of New York and Phila-
delphia, but none of them can compart with this one. Let this
pulpit remain as a monument to Christopher Scott, — as a memorial
of his taste, liberality and generosity. Let no sacrilegious hands be
placed upon this sacred edifice. Holy men have stood here and
proclaimed to you the message from heaven. May the mantle of
these men fall upon the present and futura occupants.

As we have mentioned the names of those who by their generous
gifts have shown their interest in the welfare of our beloved Zion,
we will now extend that list. The oldest Pulpit Bible in our
possession contains the inscription, "Presented by the Rev. Dr.
Davidson, of Edinburgh, to the Scotch Church of St. Andrews, New

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Brunswick, May, 1824." The second Bible contains no inscription,
while the third, the one now in use, has the words, " Presented to
Greenock Church by the Ladies of the Sewing Society in connection
therewith, April, 1876," beautifully engrossed. On the silver cups
of our Communion Service are engraved the words, *' The gift of
the Rev. Dr. Davidson of Edinburgh, to the Scotch Cliurch of St.
Andrews, New Brunswick, 1825." The land on which to build a
mansG was the gift of Col. McKay, of St. George ; and the organ in
the gallery was the gift of Col. Gray.

That this church internally and externally is so clean and neat
and bright looking, and that the surroundings are so orderly and
beautiful, is very creditable to those who were instrumental in
keeping them in this highly satisfactory condition.

But in the remembrance of these things, it may be asked, are we
giving glory to God t Are we not rather giving glory to men 1 We
endeavour to give " honour to whom honour is due." This is our
duty. In discharging our duty we glorify God. Every good gilt
and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the
Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of
turning." If these men and women gave nobly, God moved their
hearts to give, and they ga:*} but of what he gave them. We
should then thank God for this our beautiful heritage. While
grateful to the human givers, we ought to be exceedingly more
grateful to the Heavenly Giver, who makes use of these outward
blessings to convey to us the best of all gifts. The ministration of
the word and the administration of the sacraments were regularly
observed in this church from the first. You were very few years
without a minister whom you could call your own ; while for three
years (1868-71) you had two ministers. During these sixty-two
years over one thousand eight hundred persons (adults and infants)
were baptized here by your pastors. Would that all the parents
were faithful to the vows which they took. The names of the
parents and children are carefully recorded on the book of the
church. The old Communion Koll, and the Minutes of Trustees
and congregation from 1850 to 1874 are missing. When these two
books are obtained our records will be complete. The five books
which have been under my hands for the last few weeks are
exceedingly well kept. The minutes kept by Dr. McLean, who

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acted as Moderator and Cle* k of Session, are very full,' jcontaining
many things not usually found upon the pages of a session book,
and the handwriting is particularly fine. So is the handwriting of
Mr. Ross. l\Ir. Keay's is clear and full. Now that we purpose
giving you a brief account of your seven ministers and their labours
here, 1 ,t us go to the records. On the first page we read as follows :
— "About the year 1821 the inhabitants of Saint Andrews, New
Brunswick, who approved of the Presbyterian form of worship
(taking into consideration the expediency of possessing a place of
worship in which they and their families might attend divine
service according to the form most congenial with their consciences)
began to raise, by subscription, a fund that should be available for
that purpose. By the employment of this frnd and the subsequent
aid of C. Scott, Esq., a very elegant and commodious building was
erected; and having ascertr'nod, by annual subscription, that there
existed among the people a willingness to support with respectability
a clergyman of the Church of Scotland, a commission was accord-
ingly transmitted to Scotland in January, 1824,- addressed to the
Reverends Stephenson MacGill, D.D., Professor of Divinity in the
University of Glasgow, John Scott, D.D., minister of the new
Parish Church, Greenock, and Robert Burns, minister of Saint
George's Church, Paisley, and authorizing these gentlemen to select
a minister for the Scotch Church in Saint Andrews. After due
deliberation, their choice fell unanimously on the Rev. Alexander
McLean, a licentiate of the Presbytery of Glasgow, and who having
been recommended by the above commissioners to that Presbytery
as a fit person for the charge in question, was solemnly ordained
thereto accordingly at Glasgow on the 7th day of May, 1824. He
arrived in the Province so as to be enabled to preach to his con-
gregation on the first day of August in the same year. On Sabbath,
the 17th of April, 1825, after a sermon by Mr. McLean from I Peter,
V. 1., a Kirk Session was solemnly organized according to the
Directory of the Church of Scotland. This Session met immediately
after the dismission of the congregation, when the minister, as
Moderator, constituted the meeting by prayer, giving thanks to the
Divine Head of the Church for the regular administration of gospel
Ordinances in the place, desiring the effusion of the Holy Spirit
upon the congregation in general, and the Kirk Session in particular,
and imploring His heavenly direction in our sessional deliberations. ''

11

The names of the first Session are as follows : —

Rev. Alexander McLean, Moderator and Clerk,

Rev. John Cassels, St-fitfiOBge, Treasurer,

Hugh McKay, Esq., of Suther Hall, liV '^l£^*^^

Colin Campbell, Sr., Esq., Collector of Customs,

Colin Campbell, Jr., Esq., J. P.,

William Kerr, Esq., Merchant,

James Douglass, Esq., Merchant,

James Campbell, Jr., Esq.,

John Rodgbrs, Esq.,

Mr. Gordon GilchrisTj

Mr. William Douglass,

Mr. Neill Morrison, Sr., in St. James.

These twelve names are the names of those who formed the first
Kirk-session in St. Andrews in the year 1825, April 17th. On the
26th day of June of the same year the Sacrament of the Lord's
Snpper was celebrated in this place for the first time. Divine service
was held on Thursday and Saturday preceding, and on the Monday
following, — a good old custom which is not now so generally observed.
On Thursday after divine "service we see a large congregation lingering
in the church. We see the elders seated in this pew (No. 3), the
Moderator stands at the door of the pew with a number of metal
tokens in his hand. Intending communicants come up, their names
are taken and when approved they receive tokens and pass down that
aisle one by one. Mr. and Mrs. Douglas are the first to come forward.
Mr. and Mrs. Math come next, and so they pass on until 72 tokens
are given to intending communicants. The last who receives is the
Rev. Mr. Sturgeon. These tokens were struck by dies which were
in the possession of the elders. The greater portion of these dies are
still to be seen. We hope that the remaining part may be found and
preserved with the rest.* On one side of this token we see a St.
Andrew's Cross, enclosed in a square by the words and figures :
"Saint Andrews, June 1825." By these words and figures they
celebrate the first communion held in this place June, 1825. On the
other aide of the token we have another St. Andrew's Cross, enclosed
in a square by the words " New Brunswick, N. A." These tokens
have not been in use for the last few years.

On the 16th September, 1825, an address was delivered by the

* It has been found.

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Moderator, in the name of the session, to His Excellency Sir, Howard
Douglas, IJart., C.I)., TR.iS., tt'c, Lieutenant-Governor, and Com-
mander-in-chief of the Province of New Brunswick. To this a
suitable reply w^s yiven. Both address and reply ar^ recorded in
the minutes. This circumstance stands alone in our history.

Thern is another event which occurred in the same year, 1825,
to which I wish to direct your attention. It illustrates the sympathy
of this young congregation for suffering humanity, and their readiness
to lend their help, and also their readiness to yield their own plans
of help to the better plans of others. This I think is brought out in
the following interesting minute : —

" Authentic intelligence having lately reached St. Andrews of
very destructive fires having taken place on the same day, October 7th,
1825, in Fredericton and at Miramichi, in which ninety-eight houses
were burnt down in the former place, and the whole settlements of
Douglastown and Newcastle destroycl in the latter, three ships burnt
in the river Miramichi — pine timber tracts of country extensively
devastated, and about two hundred lives lost. The Moderator stated
that his first impulse was to preach a sermon for the benefit of the
sufi'rrers, but that a general meeting took place yesterday in the
Court House, in which a committee was appointed consisting of John
Cani])bell, Esq., the senior magistrate. Rev. Jerome Alley, and Rev.
A. McLean, to divide the town and neighbourhood into districts —
to appoint collectors and a subscription list to each district, and thus
to give all the inhabitants an opportunity of contributing larger or
smaller sums according to their several ability. He submitted to the
meeting, therefore, whether this arrangement did not supercede the
necessity and even propriety of making a collection in the church.
The opinion of the session was that it did — and the intention was
relinquished accordingly."

In 1826 there are three events worthy of notice : 1st. That the
second communion was celebrated on the third Sunday of January,
there being 47 communicants whose names are engrossed on the
minutes. 2nd. That on the seventh of March an Act passed the
Provincial Legislature incorporating the Kirk-session by the title of
" The minister and elders of the Scotch Kirk in the town of St.
* Andrews," and investing them with the powers ordinarily inherent in
corporate bodies. 3rd. An attempt on the part of the Episcopal
clergy of this county, in conjunction with the Provincial Attorney
General, to abridge Mr. McLean's power of solemnizing marriage, was
firmly and successfully resisted.

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On the 24tli ISIarch the corporation secured a seal having for its
device a St. Andrew's cross. Behind th« cross is St. Andrew
himself, underneath is the Latin motto " //ac Vince" — in tliis
conquer, — the whole surrounded by the words " Scotch Church
Corporation, St. Andrews." The impression of this seal you can see
on the plan in the lobby. In the latter part of 1828 the difficulty
with Mr. Scott began. This arose out of the inability or unwilling-
ness of the session and congregation to build a manse for their
minister according to agreement. Had the committee in charge shown
a little more earnestness and zeal, I am firmly convinced that no diffi-
culties wouM have arisen, and that the corporation would have
been better off in every way. In 1832 an Act passed the Provincial
Legislature repealing the Act of 1826, and placing the temporal
affairs of the church under the management of trustees, annually
electiv<i. On the 1 2th of June at 12 o'clock, noon, 1832, the first
trustees of this church were appointed, viz. : —

William Kerr, Donald Morrison,

Gordon Gilchrist, Donald D. Morrison,

Ephratm Millard, Samuel Getty,

Thomas Sime, James Hutchinson, ^

William Babcock, David W. Jack,

James Boyd, Miles S. Hannah.

The only collision which occurred between- the session and the
trustees was in reference to the disposal of the collections on sacra-
ment vl occasions, but this difficulty was soon amicably sett' d.

In January, 18^4, Dr. McLean received permission to visit his
native land. On the 1 2th of August; his resignation was handed in
and accepted. Shortly after Mrs. McLean, with the family, left in
the ship Brunsivick to join her husband. Before they sailed away
Messrs. Babcock, Sime and Morrison, elders, went aboard and held a
prayer-meeting. Dr. McLean, your first minister, was twenty years
pastor of Greenock Church. He laboured in his native land until his
death, which occurred in the Jlighlands ol Scotland in the year 1873 or
1874. His wife, eldest daughter of Rev. Mr. Cassel and sister of Mr^*
Cockburn, ntill survives him with a large family.

Your gecond minister was the Rev. John Ross, a native of
Aberdeen, and a graduate of Marshall College of that place, and also
of the University of Edinburgh. He was a class-mate of Hugh
Miller. After serving as Professor of English Literature in Aberdeen

14

he received an appointment from the Colonial Committee and came
out to Nova Scotia and laboured as a missionary there for three years.
Then he was called to Yarmouth, and from there he was called to this
church. On the first of June, 1845, Mr. Eoss began his labours
among you. During the interval between Mr. Ross' and Mr.
McLean's pastorates, the Rev, Mr. Cassel filled the pulpit. For
over a quarter of a century Mr. Ross was pastor of this congregation.
He died on the 9th of April, 1871. On Sabbath morning while you
were sitting around th« Table of the Lord, commemorating His dying
love, Mr. Ross' soul was winging its way to the mansions above.
The following is the minute of session in regard to his death : —

" The session of Greenock Church dosire to record with sincere
sorrow the death ol Rev. John Ross who for upwards of 20 years
laboured in the discharge of pastoral duties in this church and congre-
gation. He was an able and earnest preacher of the Gospel, visiting
the' poor, the sick and dying, and bereaved with much tenderness a^id
kindness, causing much thanksgiving to God for that Gospel whose
consolations and supports he ministered to such in their seasons of
sorrow and trial and bereavement. He took special delight in the
Sabbath School and in all endeavours to teach and train the
young in the fear of the Lord, and to the la%t persevered with delight
in this when his failing mental faculties incapacitated him from all
pastoral work. He has left in many a heart grateful remembrance,
and has been by very many truly mourned as one by whom God in
his gracious kindness ministered much of the comfort of his saving
grace to them and theirs. May he, though dead, yet speak to this
people young and old and may the Lord cause liis name to be magni-
fied by awakening, sustaining and increasing the power of the
testimony abundantly given by his departed servant whom we humbly
trust He has called from his labours to his rest and reward."

Mr. Ross' body lies in the rural cemetery under a beautiful
marble monument. Some years before his death Mr. Ross' health
and faculties began to fail him so that it was necessary for you to
secure an assistant. The Rev. Peter Keay was your choice. On the
25th of January, 1868, the Rev. Mr. Keay was inducted as assistant
and successor of Mr. Ross. Mr. Keay was born in Glasgow on the
12th of August, 1826. He graduated in King's College, Old
Aberdeen, in 1845, and completed his divinity studies in 1850. In
the session of 1851-2 he took the place of Dr. Hercules Scott as
Professor of Moral Philosophy. On the 25th June, 1851, he was
licensed to preach and laboured with great acceptance in the Old
Country until 1854, when he received an appointment from the

:

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lAtk.'

15

Colonial Committee and came out to this Province. He laboured for
a few years in the northern part of this Trovince. He was ordained
in Fredericton and was settled over Nashwaak and Stanley for over
twelve years, and labouml in this congregation for nearly six years.
He died on the 29th S^ember, 1873. The fatal accident which
occurred at McAdam Junction cast this congregation into deep
mourning and they had the sympathy of all the other congregations
in the town. I have read his memoriam and certificates and cannot
pass without quoting the words of his friend Dr. Bryce of Trinity
College, Dublin. Dr. Bryce says of Mr. Keay : " He has great
warmth of heart, kindness of disposition, candour and sincerity.
Though by nature mild and amiable he nevertheless displays much
energy and firmness of purpose when necessity requires their exercise.
His talents, which are of a high order, are well seconded by habits of
labour and persevering study, while the self-denying discipline of his
private life proves the fixedness of his purpose and the earnestness of
his literary inclinations. Our frequent conversations enabled me to
perceive that his requirements were solid as well as varied and
extensive." Mr. Keay lives in your memories, though his body lies
in the rural cemetery. The red granite monument tells its short story.

Your fourth minister was the Rev. Wm. Richardson who laboured
here for a little over two years. He was inducted April 20th, 1876,
and died in a hotel in New York, Tuesday morning, July 16th, 1878.
His body was .taken to Toronto and buried there. Your fifth
minister was Rev. Mr. McCullough who laboured here for about 2^
years. He is still living in Toronto in poor health. Your sixth
minister was the Rev. A. McDougall. He laboured here for about
two years and is now labouring with much success 'in St. John.
Your seventh minister is the present incumbent of whom we will say
nothing. V-.

There are two or three wrong* of the past which we think is in.
the power of this congregation to put right. These we purpose
bringing to your notice at a congregational meeting. May this our
brief review, although we have omitted many things which we would
like to state, stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, and
beget within you unbounded gratitude to the Giver of all good. He
has led us in a way that we knew not. May he enable us to remem-
ber all the way in which he hath led us and to His Name be all the
praise. Amen.